Saturday, July 2, 2011 3:45 PM Local Time
It's all over but the shouting, "Allez!"
Antonin Teisseire has just scored another bracelet for France, their third of this 2011 Series. Teisseire will join Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Fabrice Soulier, and several dozen excitable fans in bringing some American hardware back home to their country in a couple weeks.
Teisseire is no stranger to tournament cashes, but he's not tasted such lofty success like this before. This is his largest tournament cash by a few hundred thousand, his first gold bracelet, and from the looks of it, one of the happiest moments in the life of this 65-year-old pro.
We'll confess we were nearly trampled by Teisseire in the celebratory moments following his win. And now, as he and his friends gather on the stage for a few photos, the chaos of the moment has subsided a bit, and there are long-lasting grins all the way around. As the last flashbulbs pop, they break into song, chanting, "La-lala-la-laaaa!", jumping up and down in excitement.
It's three cheers for Antonin Teisseire today in Las Vegas, the newest champion at the WSOP!
Saturday, July 2, 2011 3:34 PM Local Time
On his last shove, Darryl Ronconi was quickly called by Antonin Teisseire to put the former all in for about 1.5 million or so. He was at risk, and the news was not good.
Showdown
Ronconi:
Teisseire:
Teisseire's crowd rose to their feet, and he he gave them a wide-eyed stare as he realized he was potentially five cards from WSOP glory. The fans broke into chants just in time to see their man's dreams momentarily deadened as the flop brought . In near-silence suddenly, Ronconi let out a cheer of his own, arms up in the air as he'd binked the three-outer.
The turn came the , though, and Teisseire picked up the flush outs. The noise returned as the French cheerleaders begged the dealer for a heart. "Couer! Couer!" they yelled at the stage, and their cries were promptly answered.
The dropped off the deck on the river, and the crowd erupted in a French frenzy of celebration. Teissiere, who is not a small man, stampeded across the stage and into the arms of his spectators who were crashing the boards along the rail. A long celebration ensued with chanting and celebration and hugs all around.
During the chaos, Darryl Ronconi was standing alone quietly at his side of the table, starting down longingly at the board that had just sealed his fate. His run for a bracelet has been cut short by just one spot, and he'll have to settle for $510,053 as a consolation prize. Congratulations, Darryl.
Saturday, July 2, 2011 3:27 PM Local Time
Daryl Ronconi has open-shoved his last two buttons, and Antonin Teisseire has folded both times.
As we type this, Teisseire moved all in from his own button on the next hand, and Ronconi folded. Did someone say, 'shove fest'?
... And as we typed that, Darryl Ronconi has just shoved the button again... And he was called!
Saturday, July 2, 2011 3:19 PM Local Time
Darryl Ronconi opened to 335,000, and he bet another 400,000 on the flop. Antonin Teisseire took a minute or so to call the preflop raise, but he shoved all in quickly after Ronconi's flop bet. The American could not risk it all, sliding his cards in the muck to part with another 735,000 chips.
Two hands later, Ronconi limped the button for the first time today. Teisseire's response? All in again. Ronconi laid it down, and he's running out of green chips now. He's under 2 million with about 1.7 to our eyeballs.
Saturday, July 2, 2011 3:15 PM Local Time
Darryl Ronconi raised to something like 310,000 before the flop, and Antonin Teisseire made the call. On the flop, Darryl Ronconi continued out with a bet of 425,000, and Antonin Teisseire check-called. The on the turn put two pair on board, and Ronconi tried again with 700,000 more chips. Teisseire hung around with another call, though, and the river came the . Check-check.
Teisseire showed up for the bad full house, but it was still the best hand. With that pot, Teisseire is closing in on 10 million chips again, stacking up about 9.8 million.
Saturday, July 2, 2011 3:08 PM Local Time
Antonin Teisseire was the preflop raiser, and he continued out with a bet of 300,000 on a flop. Darryl Ronconi check-called, and he check-called another 500,000 following the turn. On the river, the paired the board, and Teisseire was undeterred. He made it 1.125 million to see the showdown, and Ronconi could not call. He mucked, sliding back a bit to 4 million.
That's about 8.2 million to Teisseire's corner.
Saturday, July 2, 2011 3:03 PM Local Time
The cheerleaders have sort of segregated themselves naturally here inside the Thunder Dome. To our left sits just a handful of Ronconi's supporters and what look like random passers-by who don't have much of a rooting interest. On the right? The entire nation of France. We spot some familiar faces from the pro ranks, including Team PokerStars Pro Arnaud Mattern, Nicolas Levi, Davidi Kitai, Pascal Perrault, and Antonin Teisseire's fellow Partouche Team Pro, Alain Roy.
We're familiar with both Roy and Teisseire from the 2008 Partouche Poker Tour final table, and it's nice to see they've brought some of their countrymen across the pond to make some noise here today.
Saturday, July 2, 2011 2:55 PM Local Time
Darryl Ronconi raised to 360,000 from the button, and the three-bet came. It was a few long moments, but Teisseire eventually stacked out 945,000 chips and put them into the pot. Ronconi didn't waste too much time announcing an all-in four-bet, and that sent Teisseire deep into the tank. He asked for the stack to be broken down, and it was an additional 3.005 million to call. He looked pained as he slumped in his chair and rubbed his belly. The crowd as all standing by now, and they whispered amongst themselves as they speculated along with the players. After another few minutes, Teisseire surrendered his cards into the muck.
Ronconi has no intentions of rolling over here, and he's worked his way back up to 4.915 million now.
Saturday, July 2, 2011 2:39 PM Local Time
Level: 32
Blinds: 60000/120000
Ante: 15000
Saturday, July 2, 2011 2:37 PM Local Time
It seems Antonin Teisseire can do no wrong here. In the last hand, he opened to 200,000, and Darryl Ronconi called. They checked through the flop, and the dropped on fourth street. Ronconi checked a second time, and Teisseire made a bet of 210,000. Ronconi called, and they checked down the river.
Ronconi showed up for queen-high, and Teisseire's king-rag was the winner, allowing him to pull a pot he probably didn't expect to pull.
Saturday, July 2, 2011 2:32 PM Local Time
Antonin Teisseire had the button, and he raised it up. Darryl Ronconi called.
They both checked through the flop, and Ronconi led out with 350,000 on the turn. Teisseire called. That brought the on the river, and Ronconi wasn't slowing down now. He fired 1 million straight, but Teissiere quickly raised all in over the top! Much more slowly now, Ronconi sunk in his chair a bit as he mulled over the decision. About three minutes later, his cards hit the muck, and Teisseire appears to be at 10 million chips now!
Saturday, July 2, 2011 2:24 PM Local Time
Antonin Teisseire opened to 250,000 from the button, and Darryl Ronconi came right along.
The flop brought a raggy , and both men checked through to the turn. Ronconi checked again, and Teisseire took his cue to bet 300,000 at the pot. Ronconi called.
The river came the , and Ronconi checked one last time. Teissiere bet 1 million straight, and the call came quickly, as is typical for Ronconi. He was not going to win this pot.
Teisseire tabled for top pair on the river, and that was the best hand. With it comes a significant chip lead, Teisseire stacking up about 8.65 million chips now. "Tonin! Tonin!" his friends chant.
Saturday, July 2, 2011 2:17 PM Local Time
Current 2011 WSOP Player-of-the-Year Leaderboard
| Player | Points | Cashes | Final Tables | Bracelets | Winnings |
|---|
| Ben Lamb | 572.65 | 3 | 2 | 1 | $1,130,494 |
| Chris Moorman | 486.20 | 5 | 2 | 0 | $1,051,466 |
| Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier | 479.25 | 4 | 2 | 1 | $811,639 |
| Phil Hellmuth | 458.25 | 4 | 2 | 0 | $527,970 |
| Sam Stein | 402.63 | 4 | 2 | 1 | $716,342 |
| Mikhail Lakhitov | 401.80 | 5 | 2 | 1 | $851,058 |
| Jason Mercier | 385.33 | 5 | 3 | 1 | $696,438 |
| Mitch Schock | 364.81 | 5 | 3 | 1 | $406,018 |
| Joe Ebanks | 360 | 3 | 1 | 1 | $1,179,031 |
| Sean Getzwiller | 343 | 3 | 2 | 1 | $672,627 |
*Through Event #49
Saturday, July 2, 2011 2:17 PM Local Time
Since that last hand, Teisseire has been showing he's not going to pussyfoot around this match. Two hands later, he raised the button again and took the pot down with a continuation bet. On the last hand, Ronconi opened to 275,000 from the button, and Teisseire three-bet to 750,000. Ronconi folded quickly again, and Teisseire is trying to open up a bit of a lead here, pushing up to 7 million.
Saturday, July 2, 2011 2:14 PM Local Time
Antonin Teisseire opened to 250,000 from the small blind, and Darryl Ronconi quickly called.
The flop brought , and Ronconi checked. Teisseire bet 200,000, Ronconi check-raised to 500,000, and Teisseire called rather quickly. They both checked through the turn, and the river came the . Ronconi checked again, and he had given up. Teissiere made a small bet of 375,000, and his opponent's cards quickly hit the muck.
Teisseire's in front, sitting with about 6.6 million now!
Saturday, July 2, 2011 2:09 PM Local Time
As near as we can tell, here are the heads-up chip counts:
| Darryl Ronconi | 6,300,000 | 0  |
| Antonin Teisseire | 6,000,000 | 0 |
Saturday, July 2, 2011 2:07 PM Local Time
When Darryl Ronconi folded his button, Adam Geyer shoved all in for just less than a million chips. In the big blind, Antonin Teisseire quickly called, and his French contingent in the stands rose to their feet as they smelled a knockout.
Showdown
Geyer:
Teisseire:
Geyer needed to improve to stay alive, but he would find no help from the dealer. The board ran , and that was that. The mighty king-axe betrays him, and Adam Geyer becomes our third-place finisher. It probably wasn't what he envisioned when he went to bed as the chip leader last night, but he was more-or-less fortunate to ladder up one spot after that crippling cooler early this afternoon. He'll be rewarded with $328,810.
Saturday, July 2, 2011 1:57 PM Local Time
Antonin Teisseire opened under the gun, and Eric Froehlich shoved in for about 2 million from the big blind. Teisseire quickly called, and Froehlich was at risk. And flipping.
Showdown
Teisseire:
Froehlich:
Both men stood up to sweat this big pot, and this final day has certainly not disappointed in the drama department so far. When the dealer burned and turned, the was right in the window, and the flop rolled out to pull the Frenchman into a big lead with two to come. Froehlich needed to find a jack now, but the turn and river failed to save his tournament life.
There'll be no third bracelet for E-Fro today, cut down as the first casualty on this cooler of a Day 4. He'll take $240,876 for his work, but it looks like it's not much consolation now as a slightly flush Froehlich heads off the stage.
Saturday, July 2, 2011 1:56 PM Local Time
On the next hand, Darryl Ronconi open-shoved from the small blind, and Adam Geyer called with . He was dominating the that Ronconi had shoved with, and the board allowed Geyer to double back into contention.
Saturday, July 2, 2011 1:54 PM Local Time
Under the gun, Adam Geyer raised to 200,000, and Darryl Ronconi defended his big blind to go heads-up.
The flop brought , and Ronconi knocked the table. When Geyer bet 275,000, though, he snuck in a check-raise to 700,000 straight.
Geyer only took about thirty seconds to call. That led them to the turn, and Ronconi took a short pause before announcing a hoarse, "Ch-eck." Geyer took his cue, stacking out another 775,000 and sliding it into the middle. After another short pause, Ronconi announced that he was all in, verbally committing all 2.2 million of his chips to the pot. Geyer quickly called, and we've got the biggest pot of the tournament up for grabs!
Showdown
Ronconi:
Geyer:
Geyer had flopped a set, but Ronconi had turned the nuts, a queen-high straight. Geyer needed the board to pair now, looking a little glum. The river was a blank, though, the , and it's Ronconi spiking the monster double. He's all the way up to 6.29 million now, in command of more than half the chips in play. It took about three minutes to count down the stacks and pay off the double, Geyer looking pained the whole time. Ronconi had that "not-me" look, and the only thing he said was, "I was trying to bluff him off. And I hit the Christmas card."
Geyer is left with just 435,000 now.